Monday, February 12, 2007

It's the Admiral's News Cycle ...

We are afraid that if, by lunchtime today, you have not yet slogged through Part I and Part II of the Police Secondary Employment series at The People's Republic Of Pittsburgh, and discussed it critically with at least two colleagues ... then we're afraid you are not a serious person.

It is a tale of waste, cronyism, and (dare we say it?) corruption, within a specialized clique of our police department, extending to elements of city council and the mayor' office. It has dramatis personae, plot twists, tragedy, and suspense.

It is rife with speculation, anonymous sourcing, and key omissions. Before it is amplified further, it requires rigorous professional peer review, for the sake of the amplifier and the amplifee.

(Peduto's) challenge now is that he has to be for something -- he has to be for something popular -- and he has to be for something popular that Ravenstahl is against. That's easier said than done. It is Ravenstahl's job to support things that are popular. But it is not impossible.

It has that, also. Even if the sensational elements never check out, it spotlights a contrast in our mayoral candidates that does not involve personality, geography, or the relative merits of campaign contributors.

Although the Admiral promises his third and final installment tomorrow, there is some evidence that he is a fellow insomniac. We will be refreshing The Republic starting around 1:00 AM.

Disclaimers

All views expressed in these posts and in my own comments are my own and my own alone, and do not reflect the views of any of my employers, clients, partners or patrons, past or present, real or imagined. Adding comments is a privilege, not a right. The blog author reserves the right not to publish or to remove comments for any reason, which most often will include obscenity, harassment, personal attacks, "outing" people, attempts to make the blog unpalatable to others, ASOIAF book spoilers, incessant semi-coherent rambling, and malicious and/or knowing falsehood. However, the blog author is under no obligation to do so in a timely manner or in any other manner whatsoever, and is in no way responsible for any comments written on this blog by other parties. Please fact-check everything you read relating to politics scrupulously, especially on the Internet and especially in blog comments and on message boards.